THE prestigious scientific publication Science Magazine has featured the Philippines’ establishment of strong science, research and development programs through coordination among government offices, science and engineering firms.

The story, “Philippines Plans Research Revival” written by Dennis Normile also cited the activities of the Congressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering (COMSTE) in its December issue.

COMSTE is part of major initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and members of Congress under Senator Edgardo Angara and Cavite Representative Joseph Abaya.

The Science Magazine article highlighted the “Balik Scientist” program of the DOST, which encourages repatriation of Filipino scientists and engineers by offering them positions in the country’s science and technology communities.

The article also featured heads of science and engineering departments, such as DOST Secretary Estrella Alabastro, COMSTE Executive Director Fortunato de la Peña and Mapua Institute of Technology President Reynaldo Vea.

Returnee Filipino doctor Edsel Salvana was also cited in the article.

Salvana graduated from the University of the Philippines but worked abroad, particularly in the Medical College of Wisconsin and Case Western Reserve University.

By Anna Valmero

Exposing the youth to interactive exhibits can inspire their curiosity in science and some concepts work.

“Learning can take place with just 2 minutes of exposure to science exhibits,” says Philippine Foundation for Science and Technology (PFST) executive director May Pagsinohin.

The Philippine Science Centrum is a flagship program of the PFST.

By interacting with the exhibits, students and adults can play with the devices and explore how they work, Pagsinohin says.

The Science Centrum houses about 150 interactive and integrative exhibits that students can explore to discover the science behind them.

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DO you love science? If so, who instilled a love for science in you?

Which scientist is your hero, who inspired you to learn more about science or even become a scientist yourself.

I didn’t become a scientist, but I do have two heroes: Albert Einstein, for his brilliance and compassion for humanity, and Carl Sagan, for sharing his vision for science and making more people aware of its importance.

Who’s your hero?

WHEN I was a kid, I always thought I would become a scientist when I grew up. That was actually my original dream, though my paternal grandfather Lolo Nardo and my Ninang Lulu (the elder sister of my dad) thought I’d become a lawyer. Mainly because Lolo Nardo was a lawyer (he went to the UP College of Law and joined Sigma Rho), and Ninang Lulu also became a lawyer. Heck, I almost enrolled after passing the UP Law Aptitude Examination, heh

But science was my first love. I actually find it somewhat ironic that I became a journalist, because while I was always an avid reader, I didn’t start writing outside school work till third year high school — and that was mainly because I had a crush on our English teacher Miss Natalie Nebit haha.

I loved the young scientist’s encyclopedia collection my parents bought me and the “scientific experiments” I conducted. And in 1980, I learned to love science even more when Carl Sagan’s Cosmos started airing on TV. If you can find a DVD, get it, and get a copy of the book that accompanied the TV series while you’re at it if you don’t have one. In 2005, The Science Channel aired “Cosmos” with updated computer graphics and footage for the 25th anniversary of the series.

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TODAY’S world revolves around information and communications technology (ICT), with many people becoming dependent on their computers, the Internet, mobile phones and portable devices. Students are taking up computer-related courses in college after seeing the promise of fat paychecks and traveling abroad. Not since the early 70s have we seen this kind of surge in enrollment in computer-related courses, largely due to the increase in ICT requirements across industries and nations.

But what few young people know or even understand is that all underlying principles behind ICT hardware and software are rooted in the most basic of all developments — and that is science and technology and mathematics. It is the laboratory scientists and researchers who toiled long and hard to find the best type of materials and best processes to make any equipment work. Metallurgists and chemists find the right raw materials for any hardware. Electrical and electronics engineers come up with the integrated chips. Mathematicians develop the software embedded in these chips. Even environmental scientists are part of the growing ICT industry as they come up with strategic routes where huge fiber optic cables will be laid across land and sea. These are the men and women who work behind the scenes to make ICT come to life.

But ICT is just one industry that benefits from researches in science. Agriculture, education, energy, medicine, earth sciences, and meteorology are just a few of the many areas where scientific research can have full effect. The list could just go on and on but the basic argument is that science and technology is a huge, integral part of society.

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